In the Neighborhood
by AnnieRocks
Summary: David is just a normal kid living with his brother and mom, until Eloise Hawking moves next door and brings him into her world of love, loss, and attempted destruction of the DHARMA initiative.


You could say that I was a curious kid. I was always looking for answers. From an early age, I was snooping for Christmas presents with my brother. He was a bit more curious than I was then.  
I came home from school that day. I was in the sixth grade. Mom hated when we walked in with our hats on, so I took of my New York Giants baseball cap, mostly because my mom hated the Giants.  
There was this blonde lady sitting across from her at our table. They were drinking… tea? Mom never drank tea. She was one of those straight up coffee people until ten PM, than maybe she would drink hot chocolate. "Tea is to be drunk by the British and the elderly, not by a white 34 year old from Massachusetts." She would always say.  
"Hey, Mom." I waved at her.  
"Hi, sweetie." She pat the chair next to her. "Come and sit down. I want to introduce you to somebody."  
I sat down, looking up at the random woman my mother had invited into our home. Who was she? I looked into her eyes, and they looked sad, like she'd had the worst experience ever.  
"Hi, I'm David." I stuck out my hand, trying to be friendly. "It's nice to meet you, um…"  
"Eloise." She shook my hand. Her palm was rough, as if she'd spent a really long time doing yard work, and I didn't want to know how deep those calluses were.  
I went to go work on my homework, but it was hard to concentrate when I was thinking about Eloise. She was so upset about something, and it made me unhappy too. I was so confused as to why this would cause me so much thought. She was probably just a new neighbor, but Mom, Calvin, and I never paid attention to the neighbors. Everyone minded their own business here, and in return, we minded ours.  
It was long overdue when my mom announced that dinner was ready. I could ask all the questions I had that were floating about my mind.  
As I sat down, Mom started speaking. "You know how Mr. Johnson moved out?"  
"You mean died?" Calvin said.  
"He didn't die, Cal, he moved into assisted living."  
"That's what they want you to think."  
"Well, this woman named Eloise moved into his old place. She's right down the hall, as you know, and I'd like you boys to help her out a bit for me, won't you?"  
"Why?" I asked while getting ready to bite into my burger. Mom always made the best burgers.  
"She's alone. She just moved here from, well, she didn't exactly say, but she's expecting a baby, and-."  
"Mom," Calvin interrupted. "When someone's pregnant, you say they're pregnant. 'Expecting a baby' sounds like they're expecting some baby to come to them through the mail."  
"Calvin, do you even care what I'm saying to you right now?"  
"I do." I piped up. Baseball was over anyway, and I had nothing to do in my free time, so, sure, I'd help this person my mom liked. She seemed okay.  
"Thank you, David. Now Calvin, I don't want your brother alone, so…"  
"Yeah, yeah, I'll help him. How bad can she be?"  
"And none of that attitude."  
"Fine."

The next day, we went to Eloise's apartment. She opened the door slowly, but I saw a sliver of her face.  
"Uh, hi. Our mom sent us here to help you with, um, stuff."  
"Oh, wonderful."  
We walked inside, but there wasn't much to see. She had a radio, a refrigerator, a couple pictures, a chest of drawers, and some kind of map hanging on her wall. There was a passageway that led into another room, which I knew was the bedroom, and next to that was something else. Calvin never told me about any other rooms, because he says that Mr. Johnson died in one of those rooms.  
"What do you want us to help you with?"  
"Um, well…"  
"By the way," Calvin said in his signature smart aleck tone, "I'm only fourteen, so I can't drive you to your ultrasound or whatever."  
Eloise tilted her head, gazing at him.  
"And where's your husband? Deadbeat Dad or what? A nice lady like you should attract a good guy, not some scum bag." I elbowed him in the ribs. This wasn't what we were supposed to be doing. We were supposed to be helping this poor lady with building a crib or something.  
"No, he's just… he couldn't come with me, that's all."  
"Oh, so when you say-."  
I cut him off. "Calvin, that's enough! We were supposed to help her, not ridicule her! I'm telling Mom, and I'm going to tell her about your motorcycle fund and how you skipped algebra for the past two weeks!" He was a freshman in high school then, and not a very good one either.  
"Don't you dare, twerp!" He put a fist up. I braced for impact when I felt someone step in front of me.  
"Don't even think about it." I heard her say.  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, lady. I heard that pregnant people can get a little weird with their hormones, but you're full on crazy, aren't you?" Calvin stepped slowly towards the door. "Come find me when you've regained your sanity, bro." He walked away. I didn't want to imagine what sort of mood Mom would be in when I got home.  
"I'm sorry about him, Miss, uh, Miss…"  
"Hawking, but please, just call me Eloise. And it's quite all right actually. I've dealt with worse, honestly, it's just that where I was living for a while, when you threatened some one, you meant to, you know…" She imitated a knife slitting her throat. "I used to carry around a gun, until a little accident."  
"What happened?"  
"Do you really want to help me?"  
"Um, yes?"  
"Don't ask me that question unless you believe in things that can't be fixed."  
"Can't you just tell me? I promise, I'm really good at keeping secrets."  
"Come here tomorrow for tea. I'll explain things to you really well. Just don't go running and telling your mum. Tell her…"  
"I'll tell her that the guys are having a baseball game and I want to go play. She always wants me to go to one of those things."  
"Good." She nodded. "Good."  
I left, closing the door behind me. I didn't want to think about her anymore, but it was hard not to listen to her as she mumbled,  
"Oh, Charles, why didn't you come with me?"


End file.
